Forest of Obscurity
Namer University
Academia City, Namer Island
8th September 2285 A.G.M
Eighteen years after Hailey Incident
"Alright! Alright! Settle down," Professor Wingram called out to the crowd of first years as they chattered. He was feeling excited about what would happen next, as this was the way to see what this first year student was capable of truly. Although Namer University was technically just a school for studying and learning about the proper way to cultivate one's Mana and carve the right path to the pinnacle of Mana, it was also a place that offered courses on becoming a Hunter. And not just any ordinary Hunter, but the best among the elites. So for the next round of evaluation, they were going to pit the students against each other and see who came out on top. See who was capable of using the tools they had been given to rise to the occasion. Now this was where the Aristocrats could shine especially the Great Manaborn families. These Nobles had been trained in the art of combat since they could walk and had been given the best education on how to use their powers in battle. There were probably some commoners who could have afforded to get an instructor on the proper way to utilize their powers in a fight, but most commoners just cultivated to cultivate as cultivation was part of their society. They did it for the benefits that cultivation provided towards one's life- a chance to prolong their life for as much as they could. Not all cultivators were combat oriented or Hunters.
"Now that we have established the baseline for where everyone stands," Professor Wingram snapped his fingers, summoning a white long screen of names and pictures. This was a list of all the first year students, hundreds of them, and next to their picture was a numerical value. Eren noticed that Reo Rykkel who was at the top of the list had around five thousand numerical points awarded to him while he, who was at the bottom had zero points. "The final test to determine the rankings is a free for all battle test. As you can see, each of you has been awarded Merit points, a very valuable currency here in Namer University and Academia city..." Professor Wingram paused as he looked around the students. He noticed Eren Walker's raised arm up, and he knew what the boy's question was. So he ignored him and continued with his explanations ".... those who manage to stay within the top five gets awarded a thousand merit points monthly, and those at the bottom receive zero points. Of course, there are other ways to achieve Merit points which you will learn during your stay in the school, but maintaining your student rankings is a sure way to accumulate Merit points." Eren raised his hands down feeling frustrated at what was happening to him. He could feel his hand squeeze with some kind of feeling. It was anger- a little bit of it, but there was something else entirely. This feeling was familiar as it was something he had felt all his life growing up as a Manaless child. And even now that he had awakened to his Mana, he was still being treated this damn way. It felt so restrictive, so limiting, and demeaning that Eren felt like using his fist to smash it all away. That was all he had been doing all his life, and he guessed that was something he needed to do here as well. It was public school all over again. If Eren did not want to be treated like scum or be looked down on, then he would have to show them what he was made of. It was as simple as that. He was going to make this Professor regret looking down on him and these damn aristocrats would be his targets.
"With these merit points, students are allowed to purchase items like Recovery potions, Enchanted items, Grimoires, Battle art manuals, and various resources that can aid in cultivating one's Mana. You can even use your merit points to purchase Extra course time if you aren't satisfied with the lessons given to you during your classes. Also, to explore the Dungeon here on Namer Island as a student of Namer University, you must have a Merit point worth of thousand points. Without that, one can not venture out unless as a part of a team. Now with that explanation out of the way, for the test you're about to conduct, it is quite simple actually. Within this Forest of Obscurity, a simulation spell has been cast which will bring forth Illusionary Maleficants. These Maleficants are worth ten points each, and killing them will award you the ten points. Of course, there is another way to earn more points and that is simply by defeating your classmates and taking their points for yourself. And while you are battling against the Maleficants and your classmates, you must arrive at the exit of the forest with as many points as you can get. The ones to acquire more than two hundred points before reaching the forest exit will be awarded an extra hundred Merit points. But these two hundred points or more must be from the Maleficants and not your classmates. Now you will use the Spatial bands on your wrist which you received from the school, and within it is a holo map of the forest that will lead you to the exit. Now, let the final evaluation begin."
As he finished speaking, a trail of mists began to creep around the forest, the mists surrounding the clearing where the students and the podium was. Eren watched as the mist separated him from Ash and Belle. The mist seemed to have displaced the students in various ways throughout the forest. Eren flexed his fist, feeling his blood pump throughout his body. As he walked around the forest, he laid out his Internal senses- the projection of his consciousness through his Mental force. Eren focused his Internal sight as he felt the manifestation of the Illusionary Maleficants. Although they weren't made up of actual Accursed beings, he could feel that the spell that made this creatures was quite good. After his encounter with the Roach Maleficant, Eren could never forget what Accursed energy feel like. There were three Maleficants in front of him, and without hesitating, Eren fell upon them. The Maleficants were four legged monsters, made up of dark tendrils of energy, their red glowing eyes reminded Eren of starved animals. He quickly attacked them, his fist layered with his battle aura. Thanks to the Mana skin technique he had been practicing, Eren's fist was enhanced by the battle aura, so he was able to crush the head of the first Maleficant. As soon as it dissolved, a notification projected itself from his spatial band the school had given him.
Ten+
Eren didn't feel satisifed so he leapt up from the ground, using a round kick to decapitate the remaining two heads of the Maleficants. Eren received two more ten points. This simulated Maleficants didn't seem like much to Eren as he went about the forest, eliminating one after the other. It was only after he eliminated his eighth one, did he finally come across his fellow students. And luckily for him, they had decent merit points.
Eren was checking his map, trying to figure out the layout of the forest when he felt the approaching presence of a group towards him. Over half a mile from him was a pack of stronger simulated Maleficants. Eren figured the group must be after those Maleficants which had also been Eren's target. He had paused to figure out a path to take to the exit after he scored those points. But luckily for him, now he could get more points. As Eren dismissed the holomap, a group of students bursted out of the bushes. It was five of them, from Eren's Internal senses, he could tell that they were higher than him in tiers. They were not aristocrats, but they looked like wealthy kids that lived a luxurious life. In this world of theirs, people were put into different caste system. There were those at the bottom, the Manaless. They were worse than trash, as society looked down on them as worthless. Even the poor class were above them just due to the fact that they were born with Mana. And then there were also the middle class. They were the average citizens that consisted of the Commonborn, born with the ability to cultivate though their talent was not at the level of those at the top. Sometimes there were instances of geniuses being born from the Middle class. But it was quite rare. And then there were the upper class. Those who had wealth and influence either from their family which was built over the generations like the Merchants families or those who used their gifts quite well to make a good life. Of course they were still Commonborn but they had high status and social power that made them rival the Aristocrats. The Nobleborns were the aristocrats of the world. The upper class who ruled the world. And among even the Nobleborns were the Great Major and minor Manaborn family that surpasses even the ordinary Nobleborns. The reason for that was simple. These families were born with exceptionally powerful Mana and talent. The Mana that they cultivated was beyond what those outside of the Great families could cultivate. They were in a total different class. As such, they ruled the world. It was said that thousands of years ago, before the Great Migration, the Great Manaborn families used to rule the world from the shadows. Presently, they did it in the open. As Eren finished observing them with his Internal sight, he felt quite bad that there weren't any Nobleborn among them. Still, that wasn't going to stop him from taking their points. There were three guys and two girls.
"Oh! it's just the third tier dude," One of the guys said. He had brown hair, with freckles in his face, and a staff in his hand. He was a Mage. "He has no points on him, there's no point in attacking him."
"Hmm! I bet he was too scared to go after those fake Maleficants," One of the girls with black hair said with a smirk. As they tried to move pass Eren, Eren let out his Internal strength upon them. A wave of spiritual pressure descended, forcing the five students to leap backwards.
"Hey, what the hell, man," The big bulky guy said. Eren noticed how each five of them were equipped with enchanted items. Enchanted armor that they wore on top their school uniform, a couple of wands for the three Mages of the group, the one boy and the two girls. And then a gauntlet shield for the bulky boy and a sword for the tall lean guy that seemed to be the leader of the group. The blonde hair tall boy had drawn his sword upon feeling Eren's spiritual pressure. Percy couldn't believe that the aura of this nobody who was already at the bottom of the rank could have an aura this intense. He felt like he was up against a middle tier. Percy Osborn was a tier five Intermediate, so he should be stronger than this boy and yet, his instinct was screaming at him not to fight him.
"We have no business or ill intent towards you," Percy said. "It won't be good for you to antago-"
"But I do have business with you guys," Eren said. "You see you guys are ladders for me. Ladders for me to climb to the top." And with that, Eren didn't waste his time on more talk. He moved so quickly that none of them could react fast enough. Before Percy could call upon his Mages to cast a barrier, Eren had reached the space around them, his leg danced through the air, kicking the boy with the staff up in the air. He was out cold, unable to do anything. The two girls reacted next, raising their wands to cast their spells. One of them was successful, able to cast quicker than the other one.
[Piercing icicle]
An arrangement of runes formulated into a specific set of sequences as the spell was weaved and cast. Four sharp spears of ice formed and shot right at Eren. Eren reacted swiftly, moving so fast that he was like the wind. He appeared below the viewpoint of the Mage girl, his leg springing down on her neck and sending her right to the dirt. She was knocked out. Eren then shot his right fist toward the other Mage girl, and the wind moved so fast that it knocked the girl out.
What kind of Physical abilities are that? Percy wondered. He was a Mana warrior who used Battle aura- a form of Mana manipulation- to enhance his physical stats. And yet, this guy just effortlessly knocked out all his Mages without so much as using a speck of his Mana. Percy had noticed how calm his Mana flow had been. He had used simple physical strength and skill to defeat the three Mages. Of course, when it comes to the body, most Mages were physically weak so they couldn't handle physical attacks. While Mana Warriors had greater resistance to physical attacks.
"Bruce..." Percy called out. The big bulky guy was already set to attack, not needing Percy to tell him what was to be done. This guy had to be bought down quickly. So Bruce gathered his Mana within his fist and then punched forward. Eren felt the attack hit him in his back, and felt the explosion that occurred. This technique reminded him of his own Attack technique of his Battle art, Dynamic fist, but Eren could immediately pick out the difference between his and this technique. This technique just exploded the Mana upon impact, which could deal some damage if caught off guard. But Eren's Dynamic Fist did more than just that. It created a powerful static discharge that could be either explosive or concentrated. Eren barely felt anything from the attack Bruce had laid out.
"Impossible," Bruce said. How could he have such Mana resistance? The bulky youth wondered as Eren slammed an uppercut to Bruce's stomach. This time Eren imbued his fist with his battle aura and sent Bruce flying towards a tree branch. His body slammed against it and fell. He was unconscious. Eren's Internal sense picked up on an incoming projectile, a wave of red light that Eren side-stepped away from. The red wavy light cut through a couple of branches, while Percy, holding his sword with both arms, channeled his Mana through his sword. He was breathing hard, knowing full well that he couldn't afford to slip up. This guy was not some weakling that they had assumed. He had to go all out which meant using his Battle art. Percy entered a stance, and then he made some slashing movement. Four red disks of energy shot out as Percy activated his Attack technique of his Battle art, the red disk of energy had a lethal feeling to it, and Eren knew that he couldn't allow the disk to touch him. He activated the movement technique of his Battle art, an application of his Ability factor enhanced by his Battle aura.
[Dynamic shift]
Eren's natural speed increased and saw an instant boost in velocity and acceleration as he dodged all the disk, weaving in and out of the trajectory of the energy disks. Percy hissed at the unbelievable speed at which Eren could move, his movement technique far beyond what Percy could even do. Percy's Internal sight saw Eren's fist coming right at him at such speed, making him move his head out of the way. He used his own movement technique, to increase the pace of his slashes.
[Redhawk Flare burst]
Percy swung his longsword at Eren who dodged it, and then he sent a second slash, and a third slash again. Eren's footwork worked it's way backwards, leaning in and out of the slashes by using quick steps that allowed him to stay out of the path of the strikes. He made sure to observe Percy's movement and timed his anticipation of the strikes. Eren's body was always out of the range of the strikes. All this Eren did so quickly, that it looked like it was so easy. Eren was also controlling the path of his strike at the same time, while acting to disrupt Percy's balance. He grabbed Percy's hand that held the hilt of his sword, and with his momentum added with Percy's own, his fist shot out with his Attack technique. The static discharge of Mana imbued with static electricity swirled out of Eren's smashing Percy against the tree. Eren had made sure to hold back the explosive power of his Mana, enough to knock the blonde boy out.
"Now give me your points," Eren said. He placed his band on Percy's own band, and the spatial band did the rest. Eren watched as Percy's five hundred and eighty points got transferred to him. "Five hundred and eighty points. Hmm, nice." This plus Eren's own eighty points made him have six hundred and sixty points. And then he went and took the others own merit points. All together Eren had accumulated 2980. But Eren was not done yet. His Internal sight went over to where the stronger simulated Maleficants were.